Sword Art Online: Alicization – 09

Was I the only one who felt a sense of impending doom the entire time?

General Impressions

All things considered, this week’s episode felt rather slow — especially when you consider what kind of impact all of this will have in the long run. That said, I guess I can see the importance of creating some drama for Kirito and Eugeo since things have been going pretty well for them. And seeing how Kirito had a small mini-arc over the past few weeks, it makes sense that it’d be Eugeo’s turn. If I were to draw a small comparison between Eugeo and Youger Kirito (SAO and ALO), it’s been nice to see a character go through some of the more common struggles that the show has all but forgotten about since it’s not all that needed. Be it dealing with self-doubt about your skills to managing a couple asshats who really need to be put in their place, I’d dare say it’s almost like a breath of fresh air since it’s not Kirito who’s going through all of it.

If there was one thing I’d hope to see though, it would be Eugeo discovering just what it is that “empowers” his weapon. Because just in-case you haven’t noticed, the show has really been emphasizing the additional power going into everyone’s weapon. Or rather, how the power of “imagination” or what you truly believe in being able to bend the rules of the Underworld. In Eugeo’s case though, I’m wondering if something special will happen since he’ll probably be using Alice as his motivation to get through whatever tough situation he ends up facing. That and seeing how Alice (or at least who I’m assuming is Alice) is shown off as what looks to be an Integrity Knight, I wonder how all of this will tie together since there’s a lot of ambiguity going on right now.

Besides that I don’t think there’s all that much to talk about since it looks like we’re waiting for something big to happen based on all of Eugeo’s actions. While it remains to be seen whether or not those two asshat nobles will be exerting their “power” to make things tough for everyone, I’m really hoping that they’ll get what’s coming to them sooner rather than later. In any case, I’ll catch you guys next week. See you then!

P.S. I forgot to include this thought in the original post, but I’m actually really liking the whole Nobility/Commoner dynamic that’s been going on. I’ll dive into more detail later, but just wanted to touch on it!

Wow, I didn’t expect to be right about arrogance giving power through imagination. Aside from the blatant status screen that’s probably the most game-like mechanic we’ve seen.

Imagination powering a fighter is obviously taken to the extreme here, but it’s still kinda grounded in realism. You think you’re a good fighter, so you have confidence and can move better instead of hesitating. Arrogance making you stronger, though? That’s new. It’s nice that they made it look so sinister and I get that they needed a way to make these two d-bags a legit threat, but that system is going to cause some serious problems down the line.

At least it’s an explanation for once as to how all these horrible families are still in power…

I kinda agree, but another way you could take that scene was that his goal is just to save Alice, everything after that is open, so he wants to see how things go before he shuts down the cutie in front of him.

Of course the even worse interpretation is that he might be stringing her along to use her family connections later…

In the novel Eugeo called Raios elite disciple Raios and Humbert was mad and told him he should call him First Seat Elite Disciple Raios. Then he called Humbert elite disciple Humbert and he was even more mad, he should be called Second Seat Elite Disciple Humbert. It was considered inappropriate/rude that Kirito and Eugeo visited them in their room without making an official request that they wanted to visit them first. There is a reason they accepted them. They were hoping they would do something more “rude” so they could punish them. You saw how Kirito and Eugeo were careful when they confronted them about Frenica. Raios is more dangerous than Humbert. He doesn’t attack with his sword but makes schemes. Why did he stop Humbert so that the match would end as a draw?

Its an interesting crossover with Accel World, truth be told. The Incarnation system is extremely similar to the imagination power shown here, although in Accel World it has a much more profound effect. I wonder if they will have more crossover between the two, given the downsides of the Incarnation system in the other LN…

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